Combined seat and folding berth



(N0 Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

RTRASER. OOMBINBD SEAT AND FOLDING BERTH. v No. 528,271; Patented Oct.30, 1 94.

(No Model. 3 Sheets-Shet 2. P-.FRASER. GOMBINED SEAT AND FOLDING BERTH.

No. 528,271. 'Pat ented-0ct.30,1894.

Ira/civic)? t w h S W e e h S 3 Dm FL S A R n .v

(No Model.)

COMBINED SEAT AND FOLDING BERTH.

No. 528,271. Patented 001;, so, 1894.

1H: NOIIHIS PETERS ca. Pnorau'mu, WASHINGTON. b. c

PATENT Fries- PETER FRASER, or WHITMAN, MAssAoHUsE'rTs.

COMBINED SEAT AND FOLDING BERTHI.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. $28,271, dated October30, 1894.

Application filed January 27,1894- Serial No. 498,201. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PETER FRASER, of Whitman, in the county of Plymouthand State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in a Combined Seat and Folding Berth; and I'do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact de- I cupied by theberths when open being utilized for such purpose.

In sleeping cars, it is especially desirable that as little room aspossible should be occupied by the folded berths, and at the same time,it is quite essential that the weight should be brought as low aspossible in order to overcome the tendency of the cars to become topheavy when the berths are folded. In devising my present structure, Ihave had these objects in view, and further, I have aimed to produce astructure capable of use in any situation, irrespective of theparticular shape of the compartment in which it is to be located. Thusforinstance, berths may be arranged along each side of a central line ina saloon or car for instance, and when extended will leave aisles ateach side and when folded, form seats for the passengers, or which willpermit of the berths being arranged at each side of a car in such mannerthatwhen folded, they will occupy the space near the outer walls andbelow the level of the windows.

With these objects in View, the invention consists in certain noveldetails of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts, allas will be now described and pointed out particularly in the appendedclaims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective viewof a folded berth arranged tovform alongitudinal settee when folded.Fig. 2 is a similar view with the berths extended. Fig. 3 is asectiontaken through immediately behind one of the end ures indicate the sameparts.

In illustrating this invention, I have shown it entirely separated fromany surroundings, such as the car walls or other compartment, and haveillustrated it as though provided with a metallic framing in which theguide slots 0r slot bearings are formed as will presently appear, but itwill be understood that this framing may constitute a part of the carwalls, seat framing, 850., of a car such as is now ordinarily employedand the guide slots be formed by suitable plates attached thereto, or ifdesired directly therein in any ordinary The letter A indicates the sideframes or more properly, end frames, of the structure,

which may if desired,,constitute the arms and endsof the settee, wherethe same is longitudinal of the berths, or the backs of the settees orseats where transverse to the lengths of the berths as in Fig. 6, aswell as form the inclosure for the mechanical parts of the structurewhen folded. The particular con figuration of this framing is quiteimmaterial and may be varied .as before indicated or to suit theexigencies of the case or fancy of the manufacturer.

In the ordinary and preferred form of-the invention provision is madefor two berths, 2'. e., an upper and a lower berth, which arrangement isquite essential to enable the full car rying capacity of a car to beutilized and in providing for two berths, the lower one is as usual madesomewhat wider than the upper one and hence when folded should occupythe outside to conceal all the parts which constitute the operativemechanism, and present a regular and pleasing effect.

Referring, now, particularly to Figs. 1 and 3, it will be seen that thelower berth, lettered B, is arranged to be folded up in vertical po- 5of the lower berth and parallel therewith, but

next to the rear or wall side of the structure, the berths being held inthis position by a suitable catch, such as D or otherwise.

The lower-berth and settee back is provided with two journals orsupports, one formed by a rod or shaft E connected to its lower or frontside and having antifrietion rollers on its end working in an angleslotbearing E in the walls of the frame, and the other formed by asimilar shaft or trunnion bearings F, secured to the berth frame at ornear the lower or rear side at each end and having antifriction rollersthereon working in backwardly curved or inclined slot bearings F oterminating at the rear ends in depressions F in which the anti-frictionrollers are seated when the berth is turned down to the position shownin Figs. 2 and 4 to prevent any possible depression of its rear side.

The journals E, which I shall for convenience in distinguishing them andbecause they do in some measure form a lever of the berth frame, term,lever journals, while the rear journals F, I shall term hinge jour onals. The action when the berth is turned down, is for itfirst to hingeon the journals F untilthe journals E strike the horizontal portion orbearing proper of its slot bearing, when said journal E, acting as acenter on which the berth frame pivots, causes the rear end of saidberth frame to be elevated and the journals F traveling up in theinclined slot bearings will cause the whole berth to move rearwardlyuntil a positionis reached 0 where a slight push will set journals F inthe depressions l5 and bring the rear edge of the berth in juxtapositionto the wall. By arranging these parts as thus described, two additionaladvantages are secured. First, 5 and most important, as the berth isfolded up, its rear or lower edge is dropped down to approximately thelevel of the floor in order to bring its upper edge below the level of awindow of ordinary height; and secondly, it o is brought forward toleave sufficient room behind it for the reception of an upper berth, andwhen opened out, it moves back against the side wall as before stated,thereby leaving a wider aisle and closing the space which 5 wouldotherwise be left between the rear edge of the berth and side wall.

To support the front edge of the berth when unfolded, suitable pendulentlegs G are hinged to its upper or forward edge, and if desired,connected by a cross bar g, as shown.

The upper berth G is somewhat narrower than the lower berth and isfolded relatively in an opposite direction from the lower berth, that isto say, its rear edge is uppermost when folded and is supported bytrunnion bearings H working in slots H in the framing and connected bysupporting links I with the trunnion bearings on the rear or lower edgeof the lower berth. Thus the rear edges of both berths are maintained atthe same distance apart and the upper berth is accordingly lowered asthe lower berth is folded up, until its upper and rear edge liessubstantially flush with the outer or forward and upperedge of the lowerberth when folded,and at the same time, as the lower berth is turneddown, it will raise the rear edge of the upper berth giving a sufficientclearance or head space in the lower berth, and further enabling a mostimportant advantage to be secured in that in an ordinary sleeping car,the upper berth by being raised from below will not close the upperportion of the window, and hence light and air may be admitted to theupper berth as well as the lower berth, a desideratum, which will behighly appreciated by those who have from necessity been obliged tooccupy an upper berth in an ordinary sleeper during warm weather.

The lower and forward edge of the upper berth is supported in horizontalposition when unfolded by means of folding arms or supports K, pivotallyconnected to the lower berth near the front, and having notches orrecesses la in their upper end adapted to cooperate with projections ortrunnions K on the upper berth near the forward edge, as shown clearlyin Fig. 2.

Inasmuch as it is desirable that the lower berth when unfolded shalloccupy a position at least as low as the ordinary seats, it becomesnecessary to make provision for lowering or getting the seats or seat,as the case may be, out of the way, and for this purpose I preferablyconnect the rear end or rear portion of the seats to the lever journalsof the lower berth by linkconneetions M pivotally connected to the seatsa short distance from the rear edges. The forward or outer edges of theseats are supported by the framing or projections on the framing in theordinary well known manner. With this arrangement, the edges of theseats nearest the lower berth will abut against the same, and hence asthey cannot move farther toward the rear, and cannot move downwardbecause of the link connections, will be rigidly supported in placeagainst any downward pressure, but at the same time when the forwardedge is raised, the whole seat structure will readily fold into theposition shown in the dotted lines, Fig. 3, entirely removing it frominterference with the berth as the latter is folded down.

It will be observed that as the lower berth is turned down from foldedinto open position, the bearings E will first come to rest at the bottomof the slots E'and acting as the pivot for the berth, by pressing downon the forward edge of the berth, the rear edge is raised and thebearings F are caused to travel the inclined slot bearings F to theposition said bearings are to occupy when the berth is in properhorizontal position. The leverage thus obtained through the employmentof the lever ICO bearings E, materially reduces the labor of unfoldingthe berths and enables the rear and upper berth to be raised with the.greatest facility and further through this arrangement, andconnectionwith the upper berth, the weight of the upper berth acts asacounterbalance weight when the berths are being folded and enables thefront edge of the lower berth to be raised with little or no edort tothe folded position.

In the arrangement shown in Fig. 6, the seats are located at rightangles to the length of the berth, which arrangement is more especiallydesirable in car structures, but the operating mechanism is identicalsave that the hinged forward supporting legs for the lower berth aredispensed with and lugs 0 provided on the frame for supporting theforward edge of said berth.

In order to support the seat structure in position against the underside of the berth a spring N, Fig. 7, is preferably employed.

In Fig. 5, instead of providing an upper berth, a simple framing P isprovided which normally stands in vertical position and against whichthe lower berth is folded being adapted for the reception of clothing orother articles which the traveler may desire to deposit therein. Thisenables me to provide a closed closet for the reception of articlesduring the day and a closet which is open to the occupant of the berthduring the night. Suitable curtainsl? may be hung across the frame P, ifdesired, to inclose the same at night.

In manufacturing this structure, it is my purpose to use metallic partsas far as possible and to this end, the berths, as shown in Fig. 2, areformed by metal frames 0 and sheet metal bottoms O in which the mattressand springs of ordinary construction may be placed, the berths, ineffect, being metallic pan-like receptacles for the mattress. Thus notonly is the structure rendered substantially fire proof, but it isconducive .to cleanliness and may be made to occupy very much less spacethan has heretofore been deemed necessary.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- 1. In afolding berth, the combination with the framing having the upwardly andrearwardly inclined slot bearings, of the berth having pivot journals orsupports resting in said slot bearings, the lever journals, forward ofsaid first mentioned journals co-operating.

with the frame and forming a lever pivot for the berth, as it is turneddown, whereby the first mentioned journals are caused to travel in theirslot bearings and move the berth rearwardly; substantially as described.

2. In a folding berth, the combination with the framing having theupwardly and rearward inclined slot bearings, of the berth having thejournals working in said bearings, whereby its rear edge may be guidedfrom a lower position to a higher and more rearward position, and thelever journals on the berth forward of said first mentioned journalswith horizontal hearings on the frame for co-operation therewith,whereby as the berth is turned down to horizontal position, the leverjournals co-operating with the horizontal bearings wardly inclined slotbearings, terminating in seats at the upper end, of the folding berth,having the pivoted journal supports at the rear edge working in saidinclined slot bearings and co-operating with the seats at the upper endof the same to support the rear edge of the berth with means forsupporting the front edge of the berth; substantially as described.

4. In a folding berth, the combination with the framing having bearingsfor the lever journals, of the lower berth, having lever journals at anintermediate point co-operating with said bearings, a movable upperberth having means for supporting its forward edge,

and link connections between its rear side and the rear side of thelower berth in rear of the lever journals, whereby the upper berthoperates as a counterweight for the front of to swing down into verticalposition and means for supporting the front edges of the berths when inhorizontal position; substantially as described.

6. In a folding berth, the combination with the framing having thebearings for the lever journals and vertical guide bearings for the rearedge of the upper berth, the lower berth and lever journals securedthereon at an intermediate point and co-operating with the bearing onthe frame, of the links connected to the lower berth in rear of thelever journals, the upper berth guided in its vertical movements bytheguide bearings in the frame and pivotally supported on the upper ends ofthe links and means for supporting the front edges of the berths inhorizontal position; substantially as described.

7. In a folding berth, the combination with the framing and lower berthhaving the lever journals at an intermediate point co-operating withhorizontal hearings in the framing, of the seat and the links pivotallyconnecting said seat and lover journals, whereby said seat may be foldedagainst the forward and under side of the berth as the latter is turneddown to horizontal position, with means for supporting said berth inhorizontal position; substantially as described.

8. In a folding berth, the combination with the frame having thehorizontal bearings for the lever journals and the upwardly andrearwardly inclined bearings, as described, the

' lower berth having the journals co-operating for the lever journalsand the upwardly and rearwardly inclined bearings terminating in a seatat the rear end for the pivot journals, of the lower berth having theintermediate and rear journals, as described, co-operating with saidbearings and seats, respectively, the upwardly extending links pivotedto the rear portion of the lower berth, the upper berth pivotallysupported at the rear portion on the upper ends of said links and guidedby the framing, whereby it may swing down bet-Ween the links intovertical position and the arms pivotally connected to the front portionof the lower berth and co-operating with projections on the front of theupper berth to support the latter; substantially as described.

10. Inafoldingberth,the combination with the framing having thehorizontal and upwardly and rearwardly inclined bearings at the bottomas described, and the vertical guide bearings at the top, of the lowerberth having the intermediate and rear journals cooperating with saidbearings, the upwardly extending links, the upperberth having thejournals connected with said links and extended into the vertical guidebearings, the support for the front edge of the lower berth and thefolding supports for connecting the front edges of the upper and lowerberths; substantially as described.

11. In a folding berth, the combination with the framing and the lowerberth pivotally connected with and bodily movable with relation to saidframing, of the upper berth, guided by the framing, link connectionsbetween the rear edges of said berths and folding supports for theirforward edges; substantially as described.

PETER FRASER.

.Witnesses:

DAVID E. M.OORE, THOMAS DURANT.

